I always thought it was, 'he who laughs last, laughs loudest' but my SO insists it is definitely, 'he who laughs last, laughs loudest'. As to it's meaning, I'm with Bingley.**incidentally** here's http://www.calvin.edu/~lhaarsma/maxims.html a muted chuckle.

those googlesults in fullhe who laughs last, laughs loudest 231he who laughs last, laughs longest 303he who laughs first, laughs loudest 0he who laughs first, laughs longest 0he who laughs first laughs last 78he who laughs first laughs best 1he who laughs first cries at the last 0

from Cambridge Int. maximnoun [C]a brief statement of a general truth, principle or rule for behaviouradagenoun [C]a wise saying; proverb: (from Latin i fink, means saying)proverbnouna short pithy saying in frequent and widespread use expressing a basic truth or practical concept.aphorismnoun [C]a short clever saying which is intended to express a general truth.

so, not much difference really. a maxim is more like a rule. proverb and adage really are the same thing. an aphorism seems to me to be more likely to be a direct quote, and doesn't have to be in widespread use.

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